Cue The Heart
by PepperHereLoudAndClear
Summary: Emmett has a perfect life. Perfect family, friends, and future football career. When he's forced with a huge choice, he meets stubborn Bella Swan. Watch Emmett break down her walls and learn that Perfect just isn't a word for some people. BXEm LemonsLate
1. Chapter 1

**Oh fuck. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. What the fuck am I doing? I have FOUR other fucking stories going on, and what am I doing, MAKING A NEW ONE.**

**I'm doomed. Please don't hate me. But this story idea has been in my head for WEEKS. **

**Okay. Please, check out my other stories. From the Abyss: Rated M. Emmett X Bella. What we Make of It: Rated M. Emmett X Bella. Mine: Rated T. Emmett X Bella. And What Tonight Could Bring Us: Rated M. Jacob X Bella.**

**I'm so sorry. GUHHH.**

**Okay, anyway. Welcome to this story. :D Pahaha. Um, this is going to be kinda easy to write, cause it's somewhat my life. Except for the whole. Ya know, Emmett thing. But here we go. **

**Summary:**

**Emmett McCarty has everything. Perfect parents, perfect sister, and a perfect life. Quarterback of the football team, a shoo in for a scholarship, heart throb, and volunteer. Is there anything he can't do? When the school's boy toy gets in trouble for the last time he has to make a choice. Either be kicked off the football team, or get his grades in order and join a club that doesn't involve throwing anything. Choosing what he believes to be the lesser of two evils, he joins the school's Stage Crew where he meets President and stubborn Bella Swan. For once, Emmett just isn't getting the easy way out. Watch as he deals with the one girl who stands up to him and learn that someone isn't always who they appear.**

**Okay? Sort of get it? I'm El Presidente of my school's stage crew, so everything that I write about (Besides the romantic Emmett part) is actually what goes one.**

**OKAY.**

**The schedule in this story is Block scheduling. For those who don't know here it is. There are four days in the rotation. **

**Block One: 7:32-9:00**

**Block Two: 9:05-10:27**

**Block Three: 10: 31—11:50**

**FLEX A: 11:50-12:15**

**FLEX B: 12:15-12:40**

**FLEX C: 12:40-1:05**

**Block 4: 1:05-2:25**

**Okay. You understand that? So. If it's on a four day rotation, let's say it's a day 3. And your block 3 class eats C. You would go to your block 3 class for Flex A& B then eat lunch C. You kinda get that?**

**I dunno. It makes sense at my school. So when I say Flex ^^^ That's what I mean. **

**OKAY. **

**I'll stop talking. **

**Please enjoy this.**

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><p><strong>Emmett POV<strong>

The loud bell snapped me from my long day dream. Stupid fucking Math. It ruined my damn day, all the time.

"McCarty!" I heard the familiar call as I was just one step from exiting this hell of a classroom.

"Yeah?" I asked, spinning on my heels to face Mr. Burk.

"Did you hear a word that I said today in class?" He asked with a knowing glare as he organized his papers. I sighed and I tossed my jacket over my shoulder.

"I just hate math." I said with a faint smile. He let out a long breath and leaned against his desk, folding his arms across his chest.

"Be that as it may, you can't expect to pass this class if you don't straighten up. If you want, I could meet with you after school—" I cut him off.

"Football."

"I could get you a tutor." I scoffed at his suggestion.

"No way."

"I could fail you, and you'll be kicked out of the team." Now that was an actual threat. I groaned and set my books on the nearest desk as some students, maybe Sophomores or Juniors, came filtering in.

"What do you want?" I challenged.

"For you to pass this class." He countered without hesitation. When I didn't reply he continued. "You're going to get that scholarship, but you can't if you're not on the team."

"Okay, fine. We'll do it your way." I grumbled as I picked up my books. "Do whatever you think will help." I said turning away from him.

"I want five extra laps today, McCarty!" He shouted just as I reached the door.

"Yeah, Yeah Coach." I called back, rolling my eyes.

"Yo, McCarty." I turned to see my best friend Jasper Hale walking up to me with no books and his hands behind his head, relaxed.

"Hale." I greeted as we slapped hands and bumped our shoulders together. He was always so chill, even when we were kids.

"What goes on?" He asked as we jogged down the stairs.

"Coach wants me to get better grades in math, otherwise I'm out the team." I said with a shrug.

Jasper raised his eye brow as we reached the bottom hallway. "And you're calm about this because?" He asked slowly. I laughed as we walked to senior hallway and I threw my books in my locker.

"No biggie. So I'll get a tutor. Maybe she'll be hot." I said waggling my eyebrows causing him to laugh. He laughed back as well and gave a hard hit to my shoulder.

"You're ten types of crazy." We laughed.

Jasper moved up here from Texas last year and at first, no one knew how to treat the kid. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and southern accent which had the ladies dropping their panties at his feet. Then one day he shows up at football practice, wearing that annoying fedora of his with his blazer jacket telling us he has a proposition for us. We were pretty pissed. Who the fuck did this new kid think he was?

He said that he'll join the football team as long as he could take my younger sister, Alice, out on a date. I was so angry. We never even offered him a place on the team, and he went on wanting to date my sister? Fuck. No.

My Co-Captain, Jacob Black, insisted that we let him try a play. He told me later that he wanted an excuse the tackle the prick.

Then when I threw him the ball, the damn boy sprinted completely out of sight down the field.

He was fast. He joined the team that day.

I laughed out loud and Jasper gave me a look.

"I was just thinking of the day you came walking up to the team like hot shit." He flashed me a smile and chuckled.

"Ahh, the good ole' days." As we walked to the cafeteria there was a familiar giggle behind us. We both turned to see my sprite of a sister laughing with some of her friends but excusing herself once she saw us.

"Jasper." She sighed with a smile. I snapped in front of her glazed eyes and she looked at me. "Hello big brother." Feeling satisfied I took a step back so they could focus on each other.

After agreeing to his ridiculous proposition, Jasper took my insane sister out and a week later, became an official couple. They've been together ever since.

And as creepy as the first day.

"Hey there, Doll." I rolled my eyes.

"Yo, Sinatra. I wanna eat. Stop molesting my sister." I snapped at them, causing him to pull away and glare at me.

All the fedoras, jackets, songs he randomly broke out in to really left us with the impression that he was our little Frank Sinatra.

"Come on, beautiful. Let's go feed the bear." He teased as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

As we walked into the cafeteria there was the familiar call and woot as we entered. I couldn't help the big shit eating grin that filled me.

I loved when people called my name like that. Soon, there'd be millions of people across the world screaming my name.

I grabbed my lunch and sat down at my normal table with Jasper, Alice, Jacob, Paul Anthony, Quil Altera, and Embry Call.

"Sup fuckers." Embry said casually as he sat down.

"Emmett's failing math." Jasper said laughing. I felt a rough punch to my shoulder and glared at Paul.

"Dude, get your act together. _I'm_ even passing math. I want a winning streak this season, and we won't have it if you go and fuck off." He growled at me. I cracked a smile.

"Oooo. Feisty." I teased causing another glare.

"Dude, what's so hard about one plus one?" Jacob asked, laughing loudly.

"I'm going to shove my foot so far up your ass." I hissed.

"Don't promise things you don't intend to keep." He said in a high pitched voice, causing us all to laugh.

"Hey Jake?" His younger brother, Seth came over and we all got quiet. It wasn't that we didn't like Seth, he was a sweet kid, but he was the complete opposite of us. I mean, he was alright at sports—he was JV captain for soccer for Christ Sakes—but he got amazing grades and were part of all sorts of clubs and hung out with people who were complete opposites to us.

"What's up, bro?" Jacob asked

"Dad gave you both of our lunch money." He said quietly.

"Oh right. Hey can you go get my lunch? We're trying to make a new play." Jake said with a grin gesturing to us. We nodded in agreement even though we really weren't going over anything.

"Oh yeah. Sure thing." He said looking at the clock before taking the money and jogging to the line.

"Can you guys not lie to one of my closest friends?" Alice said annoyed, while crossing her arms.

"Oh come on. It was just a little fun." Quil defended. I grinned. A couple minutes later, tall lanky Seth came back and handed the tray to Jake.

"Thanks Bro." Jake said honestly.

"Sure, sure." I smiled at Jake's famous catch phrase, that passed down to his brother. He looked at Alice. "Hey, Ali." I noticed the way Jasper's hand clenched around my sister and I was thankful that he was so protective of her. "What are you still doing here? I'm late as it is." A brief moment passed before recognition flashed on Alice's face.

"Oh shit." She sqeaked as she grabbed the apple from the tray her and Jasper were sharing. "I gotta go, Jazz." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and jumped up. "Come on Seth! She'll bite our heads off!" And so they went swiftly out of the room.

A moment passed.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked curiously. Jasper rolled his eyes.

"They're in all the same clubs and obviously they were late to one of them." I noticed the jealousy flame in his eyes.

"Dude, chill. It's only Seth." Jake said with a laugh.

"Yeah obviously you just need to get laid and chill the fuck out." Paul said rolling his eyes. Everyone stifled their laughter, even me, because we all knew how adamant my caring sister was about them having sex.

She was so against it.

"Ah, it's a good thing we know how stressed you are now, Jazz. I'll know the moment you two have sex because you'll be all chill and calm." We all laughed from Embry's comment. Jasper glared at him and picked up a spoon full of rice and flicked it at Embry. We all made low 'oo' sounds. Embry gave him a sarcastic smile as he took a spoon of marinara sauce and flicked it on Jasper's expensive shirt.

By this point, some of the tables around us were watching us with wide eyes. My hand was covering my mouth to prevent me from laughing too hard. Jasper smiled widely with that sarcastic glint in his eyes. He grabbed his small cup of dressing and flung it at him, splattering Quil along the journey.

Oh shit. This wasn't going to end well

"Hey ladies. Calm down." I said trying to put authority into my voice. Embry and Jasper shared a look which I assumed was a truce and I sat back.

All in a days work of Emmett Cu—

I was cut off suddenly by a cool liquid hitting my face and the table stayed quiet. I opened my eyes through the dressing and glared at the two of them.

"Well Ladies. I guess it's impossible to handle this like mature adults." I said calmly as I reached for the water bottle on my tray. I opened it casually and took a sip.

Before splashing it on everyone at the table, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

The rest sort of passed in a blur.

There were pizzas and hamburgers thrown everywhere, water and milk dumped on people, and salad cases turned into bombs that exploded on everyone when they hit the ground.

It didn't take long for the principal to come in, eyes flaming and about five minutes, nearly everyone in the room was lined against the wall, hand behind our backs, covered in food, listening.

"I can't believe you guys. Most of you are seniors and you partook in this stupid and immature stunt?" He started as he assessed the room. I could see in the hallway the people who ran out immediately, explaining their case and getting permitted to leave.

Lucky shits.

"I want to know who started this. You are to turn around and face the wall and shut your eyes. The people who admit you were a instigator in this are to step backwards and your punishment won't be nearly as severe. If I have to hear it from a teacher about who started this, I won't hesitate to hand out detentions by the boatloads. No go on. Turn around, close your eyes." And so we did.

I gave a glance to Jasper and Embry, standing next to me who both nodded.

"Alright. Let's go." At the same time, the three of us took a large step back silently. After a moment we felt hands on our shoulders and we were guided from the room.

"Of all the stupid things you guys have done…" The principal started pinching the bridge between his nose.

"We didn't mean for it to get that far." Jasper said in his charming southern voice.

"Yeah, it just kinda happened." Embry said. If there was one thing Coach Burke taught us, it was that honesty would always be treated better than lying.

"Look, I know you guys are seniors, and you want to mess around. But there was damage done to the walls and ceilings and the room is a mess." I could see where this was going. "You each will be serving detention today and will clean the entire cafeteria floor to ceiling." All of us sat up right in our seats.

"Sir, we have lifting until four today and then practice!" I defended. He held up his hand.

"I will speak to Coach Burke. So long you finish cleaning today, you may still go onto practice. Now get out of here and be back here at the end of the day, right after fourth block." He said sternly. We all stood, sighing heavily.

"McCarty, wait." I took a heavy breath.

Of course it wouldn't be simple. I nodded at the guys as they left and plopped back down on to the chair.

"This is your fourth detention this semester. If something doesn't change, I will force you off the team. I don't care how many colleges are looking at you." My blood ran cold at the thought of me not doing football.

"Sir, I don't know what to…" I tried to find the words.

"I'm not kicking you off the team yet. I actually want to help you. He reached in his drawer and pulled out a sheet, flipping it so I could see it.

"My resume?" I questioned as I took the sheet.

"Yes. Now, your classes are fine and your sports section is fantastic, but colleges nowadays are looking for more rounded students. You not only need to pick up the grades in your classes since they aren't necessarily honors classes but you need to do more activities." I had to fight the urge not to roll my eyes.

"Okay. I mean, I'm sure the I could manage the soccer team, and I could join Track. I heard they were looking for throwers." I hadn't even finished my sentence and he was shaking his head.

"No. I mean non-sport related clubs. I decided that you will be in Future Business Leaders of America, and once you get a math tutor, I want you to be a part of the math team."

"Are you kidding me?" I said a little louder than necessary. He folding his hands and waited for me to cool down. "I'm swamped with football as it is. I can't just add two more clubs to this!" He raised his hands.

"You don't need to worry about FBLA or Math team for another couple months, but you need to be involved in something this semester. I will give you the choice." He started clicking on his computer for a couple minutes.

"You can either join Drama Club, Chorus, or the Stage Crew. Take your pick." I groaned and let my head fall on the wall behind me.

"Kill me now."

"Hey, I'm actually doing this to help you McCarty, despite what you might think."

"Well there's no way in absolute hell am I going on stage and singing." He smiled.

"Well then I guess you will be joining the school's stage crew. Your first meeting is tomorrow."

"Great."

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><p><strong>The next day.<strong>

* * *

><p>"Man my fucking back is killing me." Embry whined as we walked out of our fourth block class.<p>

"Fucking tell me about it." I groaned. We ended up cleaning the cafeteria from 2:25 until 7:30 at night.

"Let me tell ya, women should stick to cooking and cleaning." Embry said making me laugh.

"Attention football players: practice tonight is canceled but the weight room will be opened until 8 tonight." I smiled in relief. I wasn't in the mood to explain to the entire team that I'm now a stage geek.

"Fuck yeah!" Embry shouted. "I'm heading out home and resting my aching back." I laughed at him. Then a pretty sophomore walked by. "What's up cutie?" She beamed and stuttered a hello. "Wanna come over to my house tonight? We'll make dinner, watch a movie, cuddle." He winked.

To my utter amazement, she agreed and they walked away together.

"You alright man?" Jasper asked limping over to me.

"How are girls just so willing to have sex with Embry?" I asked as we walked together.

"Ew." We laughed.

"So practice is canceled. Guess that means I'll be over earlier than usual." Jasper said with a sigh, as though he were making some great sacrifice seeing Alice earlier. Jasper and his twin sister Rosalie (Who was smoking hot might I say) came over to our house all the time because they had a drunken mother and hated to be at home. "Momma making pasta tonight?" He asked as we walked through senior hallway, stopping at my locker so I could get my things.

My mother Esme and my father Carlisle cared for Rosalie and Jasper just as much as the did us. I guess they have a knack for loving children who aren't really theirs.

The Cullen's adopted Alice and me when we were really young because our parents were killed in a car accident. My father, who was the emergency doctor who tried to save them, were good friends with them and instantly offered to adopt us. They were all too eager when they found out that Esme probably wouldn't be able to conceive, being how having the one son they did was considered a miracle.

Edward Cullen was their actual son, and in the technical sense, my younger brother. But the dude was an all out prude if you ask me.

"Dude, you know I'm not going straight home today." Recognition flashed over his face and he gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Right, you're a stage swabbie now, ain't ya?" I couldn't help but laugh as we walked to his locker.

"I guess so." I rolled my eyes.

"Didn't tell the team yet, did you?" He asked sifted through his locker slowly and with boredum.

"Fuck no. I'll tell them when I have to. I told mom and dad though, so they know why I won't be home till like 5." He chuckled.

"Alice know?" He asked as she came dancing down the hallway.

"She was the first one to." I smiled.

Alice and I were incredibly close, even being how much of opposites we really were. Four foot eleven to my six foot five form and sometimes, I still cowered away from her.

"Hello my wonderful." Jasper greeted with a gentle kiss on her head. I pretended to gag and they both laughed at me.

"You know, dear boy, I think it's you who needs to get some." We all laughed but I guess he was right. The girl I was with was this stunning cheerleader named Heidi a couple months ago.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Emmett, you need to get going. Crew starts in." She checked her watch. "Twenty minutes. You should go meet the teacher and all that. Oh and tell him that I won't be making the meeting until 4:30 today. I have some field hockey workouts to do." Jasper looked at Alice carefully.

"Darling, you're in stage crew?" She glared at him.

"Of course I am!" She wailed. "Where do you think I go after school, and during Flexes?" He grabbed her shoulders to calm her down.

"I'm sorry, Doll. It's just that you're in so many clubs I lose track. Plus you're in field hockey and soccer. I get confused sometimes." He said using the full effect of his southern drawl.

I knew he had her there.

She sighed. "Sorry I freaked there, Jazz. I love you. Now I gotta go." She kissed him quickly on the lips then faced me.

"You." She said pointing.

"Me." I said pointing to myself.

"Go to the auditorium. Mr. Karo should be there already." She said pointing to the auditorium. I nodded. "You give him my message, and be nice. It's really fun Emmett, trust me." She jumped up to give me a kiss on the cheek, kissed Jasper once more, then danced away.

"Good luck man." He said, slapping a hard hand on my back. "So I'll trust that you'll take Alice back to the house then? Rose and I will meet you there." At that moment, the familiar click of heels came around the corner and she came walking over, as though in slow motion. Her glorious blonde hair falling in loose curls and her thin tight body moving like a model.

"Hello beautiful." I said flashing her my famous dimple smile. She grinned at me for a moment before turning to Jasper.

"I have basketball and then track today. I'll get myself a ride home, thanks." Rosalie wasn't just on basketball, she _was_ basketball around here. There was nothing the five foot eleven beauty couldn't do. She got perfect grades, stayed in clubs, and managed to be queen at all her sports. Plus, she was a cheerleader for the football team.

"I could take you back if you want, Rose." I offered. She smiled at me.

"I guess you'll have to seeing as you're taking Alice home as well." Rose always knew when something was going on. "There's drama club at 5 today so since you're waiting for Miss Alice and hanging out with her mutts, I'd very much appreciate it if you'd give me a ride." She said with a wicked grin.

I've known Rosalie for the past two years, just like Jasper, but we always had this flirting thing going on.

But we were also really good friends.

Maybe one day that would change.

"I guess I will have to give you a ride. I'll drive real slow so not to scare you." Her eyes lit up and we both busted out laughing when Jasper pretending to vomit and die.

"See you later, Em. Bye Jasper!" She said while clicking away, still laughing. I watched her fine ass walk away from me before turning to Jasper who was still on the ground.

"Man, chill. She's gone." He opened his eyes and I offered him a hand to help stand.

"_Why_ must you talk like that to my sister?" He begged with a shudder causing me to chuckle.

"Dude, I have to watch you and Alice make out all the time, this is no worse than that. Besides, you know we're best friends." He grumbled something and we made our way to the auditorium.

"Gross. But…she is my twin, so she does have my devilish good looks, so I can't blame you." I punched his shoulder and we laughed before I stopped in front of the double doors.

"Whatever. Alright, I'll guess I'll see you when this torture is over with. See ya, man." I sighed heavily.

"Yeah cool. Bye." He said as he walked towards the front doors. I went to open the doors but paused.

"Hey Jasper?" I called out. He turned and started walking backwards.

"Don't tell Edward about this." He gave a knowing smile before turning and walking out the door.

I looked at the door and let out a huge sigh before pulling open the door and walking in.

A/N I was going to stop here. But changed my mind. You're welcome.

It was quiet in the room and there was no one I could see.

"Uh. Hello?" I called out. It echoed on the walls and I shook the creepiness off of me. There was a small metal noise so I walked down the aisle way next to in between some of the seats. "Mr. Karo?" I called out. I dropped my backpack into the front row seat and looked around. "Is anyone in here?" I tried for the last time.

"Hey!" I heard someone shout.

Well that definitely wasn't a man.

"Uh. Hey?" I asked back, looking for the source of the voice.

"Want to give me a hand up here, mutt?" I didn't understand the name, but I walked up the small stairs to the stage. I looked up and saw a pair of long legs dangling off some sort of metal contraption I'd barely noticed when I walked in. She was wearing high top red converse, purple and black knee high socks, and a short skirt.

Damn.

"What?" I asked dumbly. The legs that I was currently enjoy staring at folded up on the contraption and I heard an annoyed sigh.

"There's a switch on the bottom of this lift, it's red in case you can't tell, could you flip it to 'On'?" She asked.

Well she was feisty. Normally, I would never have taken that kind of talk from anyone, but hey. This was uncharted territory. I walked over to the large switch and turned it to 'On.'

"Okay." I called up. I looked up and could only see those long, sock high, legs. They walked over to the side and pressed on something, causing a terried screeching noise to echo in the room. I resisted the urge to cover my ears. It made horrific screeching noises as I watched the rest of the figure come into view. I saw her legs then a smooth creamy area of skin followed by a black skirt. Then there was a gray off the shoulder shirt with the Big Ben clock on it. The strap where you could see her shoulder, had a thick purple ribbon the same color as her striped socks.

Alice taught me way too much about fashion.

Then there was more creamy skin before the screeching came to a sudden halt, distracting me. When I looked back up, I saw her face. She had cocoa brown eyes and long brown hair, curled.

I looked away from her face to understand the metal 'lift' as she called it. She was standing on a thin flat platform with metal gates all around it, protecting her if she fell.

When I looked back up at her, her hands were resting on the bars and her foot was crossed behind the other, looking down at me.

She walked to the side where she lifted something and the gate came swinging open. She spun around and slowly made her way down a ladder that I assumed was part of the lift. She jumped and skipped the last step, causing her skirt to fly up in a delicious way.

"Thank you for that. I've been up there for a bit." She said in a much softer and kinder voice than from when she was up there.

How strange.

"No problem." I said with a smile. There was a moment. "I'm looking for Mr. Karo?" I stated more like a question. She gave one sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah, aren't we all." I couldn't help but smile at that. "Karo doesn't get here until the last possible second." She said rolling her eyes. "Maybe I could help you with something?" She offered as she went back to the lift. On the opposite side where she came down on the latter, she grabbed something similar to a handle bar for a red wagon gave the giant thing a huge tug before if moved a little.

I quickly ran to the other side and gave it a slight push, satisfied when it moved easily but damn. This thing must be hard to do by yourself, if you're this girl's size. I pulled it to a halt when she stopped.

"Apparently, I'm joining Stage Crew today." She turned to me and crossed her arms over her chest before raising an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" She challenged. I mimicked her.

"Yes Really."

"Says who." She took a step towards me.

"Says the Principal." I said taking one towards her. She paused for a long moment before dropping her arms and leaning against the lift.

"Well alright then. Welcome to Stage Crew." She said opening her arms to the entire room.

"You a member?" I asked her, looking around the room.

She laughed. "President. You ever have a question around here, you ask me. Mr. Karo doesn't know half as much as I do here." I grinned at her. She was bitter and nice at the same time.

Odd.

"Well alright then. How about I get a general tour before this whole thing starts?" I asked smiling down at her. She laughed.

"Sure thing, McCarty." I paused.

"You know my name?" I asked and I saw a brief flash of emotion flood her eyes before in a blink, they were gone.

"Yeah, you know, we've had classes together since Freshmen year." I assume she meant hers. "And Alice has been over at my house since elementary school." Alice was always at a friend's house when she wasn't home. As much as she loved home, she loved her friends just as much. Ooops.

"Sorry. I lose track of Alice sometimes." I said with a sheepish smile. She rolled her eyes, that stubborn girl coming back out, before jutting out a hand.

"Bella Swan. Consider me your personal hell for the next year." I smiled and shook her small one.

"And even though you know, I'm Emmett McCarty." She smiled up at me.

"Well. This is the stage, obviously." I nodded at her.

So far, so good. "This here is the lift, but we call her the Dolphin because of how loud and annoying she gets." I smiled at it. She pointed up. "These are your main lights. The front set is border one, the second border two, and so on, so on." I nodded, trying to commit this shit to memory. She took us to 'Stage right' as the people in theatre would say where there was the tool room and the cable/microphone room. We walked to 'stage left' where I was met with this giant board with tons of colored levers and it was taller than me.

"This is Main board. Each color knob is the color light it is control of. These, are the ones for the borders I showed you out there. She reached up for the blue knob under the number 1 and lifted it up. I looked on stage to see that all the blue lights in that first row closest to the stage, were on.

"Bitchin'." I noted. She laughed and pulled it back down.

"These are your foot lights." She lifted two of them and I noticed the floor lights of red and white go on. "This is for the main curtain." She said gesturing to a red button that said open, and the one beside it said close. She reached up on her toes to a small switch that she tugged down. At first, nothing happened, then I looked out into the auditorium and saw the lights go dim. "That's called the house. Keep that in mind." I nodded as she flicked it up and the lights slowly went back to their previous brightness. When I turned from the board I saw a huge desk with an ancient televeision on it. "This is cue master's desk. That's me. I sit here, watch the show from this side, and on the TV and make sure that everything goes according to plant. It gets kinda cramped back here with more than three people, but it gets done. She showed me the other boards, which weren't nearly as important, and then we went to the back of the room to 'Sound'.

I can't believe this giant stand was out in the open, and I never gave two shits about it when we had assemblies.

"This is sound." She said as she stepped onto the elevated platform. The sound board was a giant thing filled with what had to be two hundred little knobs. "It's not as confusing as it looks, trust me." I nodded to believe her and let her explain what the giant cabinet next to it was a little taller than me filled with.

God this was intense.

"Well that's everything down here. Up stairs is the spot light booth." She said pointing up where there were two giant dark squares in the wall.

How did I not notice this before?

"And the prop and costume room is up there too. We'll do that another day." She finished as she sat down in one of the two chairs at sound board. Not wanting to be dumb, I sat on the other high chair and sghed.

"This is a lot more intense than I thought." She laughed and nodded.

"Yup. Not a lot of people realize that everything that goes on, on that stage, is because of us." I smiled and chuckled.

"Guess so." At that moment, someone came in from the stage right door. Look at me, knowing names. The stage doors were the doors near the stage that led to either back stage or the auditorium. People in productions would use them when needed to disappear for a scene, then come back into the auditorium, instead of on stage.

It was confusing as fuck.

"Bella!" The voice called as he waved. I recognized the kid as Ben Lee **(Don't care) **a total nerd and outcast.

"Hi Ben!" She said cheerfully with a wave. Suddenly, three people came in from the main auditorium doors, which were back here by sound.

Mike Newton, Angela Harris **(I'm really bad with names today)**, and another kid I didn't know.

"Hi Mike, Ang, and Tyler!" Bella waved. She waved back and smiled.

"Hello Bella." A voice to the right main door said. We both turned to see, would you believe it, Seth Black standing there. Bella jumped up from her seat and dove at him. He hugged her tightly and spun her around.

"Hi Seth." They knew each other? I need to start paying attention more to who walks these damn hallways.

"Sup Emmett." He said surprised when he noticed me. I stood from the high chair and jumped down off the platform.

"Hey Black." I said casually.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he threw an arm around Bella.

Where they together?

Holy shit, go Seth!

Bella laughed and shrugged out from under his arm.

Maybe not.

"He has to join Stage crew." Seth laughed loudly and I couldn't help but playfully punch him in the shoulder.

"Welcome to the family, Emmett." Seth said with open arms, gesturing the group who were conversing sitting on the stage.

"So Miss Presidente." Seth said casually. "What do you have in store for us today?" She laughed and I realized, I really liked that sound.

"Well. Karo is supposed to having a pretend run through of what a show might be like."

"Main board?" He asked her. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course, Seth. Main board just isn't the same without you." I realized that I, Emmett fucking McCarty, felt awkward. I didn't know what was going to be happening and I didn't have a place to go.

I hated this feeling.

"Emmett, since you don't know how to do anything really, you'll be on cue desk with me. So you can see how a show works." She explained when she noticed my unease.

Damn, the girl was observant.

"You're going to love this place, Emmett. I assure you." I shrugged from Seth's words.

"Maybe."

"See, don't tell any body here, but Bella treats me the best." He whispered loudly with a wink towards her. She laughed and pushed his arms.

"You know I don't have favorites, mutt." She winked back.

"See but I'm the only mutt around here." He said proudly causing me to laugh. She turned to me and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh you don't understand Emmett. From this point on, you're my dog. Well, my mutt." She said gesturing to Seth. She kissed Seth on the cheek and started walking down the aisle to the front of the stage.

"Is that a good thing?" I called out to her. She laughed and turned around, stumbling slightly.

"We'll see."

* * *

><p><strong>Wow. This was a whole lot longer than I intended. Um, so yeah. It's kinda slow and probably confusing right now. I just hope that you try picturing everything.<strong>

**For the auditorium, think there are two doors leading into it. The two doors, open into two aisles. There are three sections of seats. One on the right, one in the middle, and one of the left. The middle is apart from either side from the aisle way. Behind the middle section is the sound board. Above the sound board, is the spot booth. The stage is at the bottom of the angled downward auditorium, where there are two dors on either side. They lead to steps that take you to stage right or left. **

**Hope that helps. Okay, please review. I promise, promise, promise, promise, that the next chapter will be so much better than this if I get enough reviews. **

**I type quicker when I have feedback, trust me. **

**Oh and I know it's not typical Bella attire. Trust me, she's still shy and insecure, but in that auditorium, she doesn't have to be. AWWWWW. **

**Um, I think that Edward and Bella will have dated but broke up a while before this. He's going to get pretty mean though when he finds out that Emmett is in stage crew, because Edward is so great at everything and thinks he's better than everyone. Wahh wahh wahh. **

**Oh and there will be lemons in this story. Eventually. **

**Okay. Thanks for dealing with this shitty Chapter 1.**

**BYE**

**Pepper**


	2. Chapter 2 Something

**Hey Guys :D So I liked the early feedback from this story, I really appreciate it. I promise, it gets better. Trust me. Hearts.**

**Someone pointed out to me, that there just aren't enough EmmettXBella stories. And that is the damn truth. I mean, I LOVE writing them, trust me I do. But I wish I could just relax and go read one that I haven't before yet, ya know?**

**So I'm glad that you all like my Four EmmettXBElla stories. :D**

**Okay, please keep in mind that school has started and I'm busy with all that stuff. Stories will be a little longer to get up, but its either that or nothing.**

**Edward is a Junior btw. Just like Alice and Bella. **

**Okay! Here's chapter two, still mostly in Emmett's POV. It may change at the end. **

**Stay believing.**

* * *

><p><strong>Emmett POV<strong>

"Dude?" Seth snapping his fingers in front of my eyes broke me from my gaze.

"Sorry. Got distracted I guess." I said lamely. He raised his eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, she has that effect on people." He said with a knowing grin, gazing at Bella who was talking to her band of nerds.

I laughed. "So are two a thing?" I asked casually as I leaned against the wall. His response was a long whistle and a chuckle. When he leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and one foot against the wall, he reminded me just like Jacob.

"Nah, man." He said breathlessly. "A guy can dream though."

I looked at her standing in front of the stage laughing so naturally with her friends. "She's interesting." I noted.

He laughed loudly. "Trust me man. You'll see exactly what I mean. She has this…way about her." He said dreamily. I never saw Seth like this.

"Whatever you say man." I chuckled. I mean, sure she was pretty. But I've seen hotter?

"Mutts!" On instinct, we both looked to Bella standing on the stage. I shook my head. Why the hell did I respond to that? "Let's go!" She shouted. Next to her was a tall gentleman with black hair and a weird goatee thing.

This must me Mr. Karo.

"Yeah, yeah. We're coming." Seth said as we started walking down the aisle way.

"And that's what she said." The teacher laughed, making everyone laugh too. I was surprised. A teacher said that?

I could really learn to love this guy.

As we approached the front row of seats where everyone else was sitting, a teacher I knew to be Mr. Green—the drama teacher and history teacher—came in with a bunch of students.

"So we're going to be running through a show with this one act play. I'll assign you guys a place, and then you come to me for your cue sheets." Bella started as she grabbed a clipboard from Karo. "Mike and Tyler you guys are up at Spots." They both let out a loud 'Yes' and gave each other a high five before Bella continued. "Ben, I can trust you at sound?" She asked already knowing the answer. He laughed and nodded. "Alice. Wait. Where's Alice?" She asked suddenly.

"She had field hockey things to do. She'll be here at 4:30." I called out. Bella glared and scribbled something out from her board.

"Fine. Ben, that means it's all you tonight buddy." He nodded still.

"Angela and Seth, main boards please." I could sense a bit of favoritism there. "Emmett, you'll be with me since you know shit." Everyone laughed.

"Okay, once you get your cue sheets, come meet me in the headset room and I'll get you all hooked up." Karo explained, probably needing to feel like he was in charge of anything.

Everyone moved at the same time so I followed, not wanting to be left behind. This was so fucking weird for me. I was Emmett McCarty. I didn't doubt myself or get awkward yet here I was, doing all of that in this auditorium.

I jogged up the four rigidity steps to the stage and stood next to Bella as she handed out sheets.

"Sorry Mike, not today." She said with a sad smile. He nodded with a loud sigh but beamed when she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek. Once everyone, apart from me, had a long sheet, we walked to a room where it was filled with headsets and boxes. Bella grabbed one right near the front and pulled me back to the cramped side stage with the main board and cue masters desk.

"This is one of the only wireless ones." She explained after a moment. She plugged the head set with one giant ear muff and mic into a small box that she clipped onto her belt. I hummed in approval. "Everyone else gets wired mics that connect to a stand wherever their station is. You click this button here, the light goes on, and they can hear whatever you say, let it go, and then they can't." I nodded, trying to take in everything. "I hope you can handle that." She teased. I smiled. "You don't talk much, do ya Caveman?" She asked casually as she grabbed another high stool for me to sit at the desk with her.

"Caveman?" I asked with a laugh. She grinned up at me before quickly looking back at her desk, which had a large book and one of the cue sheets on it. She lifted the mic to her face and clicked the button.

"Ben? Could you please turn on the camera?" She asked sweetly. After a moment, there was a distant hum and Bella reached across me to get the TV.

A few things happened at once then.

One, Bella's stool, which was leaning on two legs to reach over me, slipped.

Two, Bella's feet kicked wildly to regain a steady place.

Three, Bella started to fall.

Four, I grabbed her arms which were still reaching across me.

And five, I secured her from falling by bringing her close to my chest.

.

.

.

"Bella?" I asked after a long breathless moment. I looked at her chocolate eyes and saw her staring up at me, frozen, and found myself lost in them.

Suddenly she jerked away and made an unsteady landing to the ground. "Sorry. I'm a major klutz. You don't understand." She rambled as she scrambled to pick up the stool.

She smelled pretty.

"Bella, chill. It's fine." I flashed her my famous smile and saw her eyes glaze for a second. Her back straightened and she busied herself with the cue sheets.

"Well what do you know, Caveman. You can talk." And there was stubborn sassy Bella. "Turn on the TV will ya? Unless you want me falling on top you like that again." She said with a confident wink, despite the blush that crept up her neck. Not wanting to be outdone, I moved closer to her so our faces were inches apart.

"And if I do?" She let out a shaky breath before swallowing hard.

"Well then I guess it's no issue." She said, still standing. She moved a step closer to me and reached her arm beside me to blindly find the TV.

I would be lying if I said I was annoyed when she found it quickly.

"See Caveman? Your womanizer ways don't work on everyone."

And I guess she was right. Most of the time, girls couldn't form sentences around me or treated me like some sort of God.

Bella didn't.

As she retracted her hand I grabbed her wrist and spun her around to press her against the desk. I put both of my hands on either side of her, trapping her there.

"Oh really? That sounded like a challenge." I said with a evil smile. She didn't move as she breathed heavily. Taking that to my advantage, I leaned forward and pressed my cheek against hers, so my mouth was right next to her ear. "You're not putting up much of a fight." I whispered huskily. Her body gave a shudder and she still didn't move. "Pity." I whispered, pressing half of my lips against her cheek. "Thought you'd be more of a challenge."

And then, mostly because I heard someone coming up the side steps, I pushed away from the desk and pretending to open the book of the play we were about to be running, noticing all the little Cues scribbled in.

"Bells? You alright?" I recognized Seth's voice immediately. He ran to her side and pressed his hands on her cheek.

Some weird feeling twisted my stomach slightly. She shook her head quickly and smiled up at him weakly.

"Yeah, Seth. I'm fine. There was a huge spider, and I'm pretty sure it tried to kill me." She said breathlessly. I laughed loudly but continued to 'read'.

"Jeeze, Bells. You know they're all not actually out to get you, right?" Seth asked and I couldn't help but notice that obviously this panic attack over 'bugs' happened a lot.

The cocky smirk spread across my face because _I_ was the one who made her that way.

"Hey man, there's a headset for you in there." Seth said, casually slapping a hand on my back.

"Bitchin!" I said jogging to the room, which was completely empty and bare besides one headset and one box. I smiled and grabbed it before there was a loud click. When I turned, I saw Bella standing, arms folded across her chest, glaring at me in front of the now closed door. "Came back for more, did ya?" I teased with a wicked grin.

"Now you listen here, McCarty." She said slowly, falling back to lean against the door, propping one of her striped knee high legs on the door. "I don't care if you were forced to join this club. I also don't care if you think you're all high and mighty because of what you do on the football field. In here, I'm in charge. I don't give a damn how many touchdown passes you've had, or what college wants to look at you. You ever pull that shit again, and I won't hesitate to cut your busy little nuts off. I'm not one of your sluts, and I'll never be one." During this whole rant, which petrified me, she started pacing the small room and I turned to look at her. By the time she was on opposite side of the door, I was convinced she was actually pissed at me.

She took a large step closer and instinctually, I took one back. She was short, but terrifying.

Just like Alice.

"Bella I didn't mean to offend you." I tried to say but she shook her head before I even finished. She absentmindedly picked up the box, which I had put down during her rant, and spun it around in her fingers. She took another step forward, me one back.

"I don't care what you meant to do, Caveman. All I care about is that it doesn't happen again in this fucking building." Hmm there could be a loop hole to that…

Suddenly, she was just there, inches in front of me, eyes boring into mine. I felt her small dainty hands making a small, feather light trail up my abdomen, then to my arm where she trailed it up to my neck. I tried to fight the shudder of pleasure that gave me.

I haven't gotten laid in months.

Her hand wrapped around my neck and she pulled me down slightly, to where I was all too willing to cooperate. Unconsciously, I put and hand on her waist and she pushed forward so my back hit the wall.

I couldn't help but note, how fucking tiny she was, my hand practically wrapped around her entire waist.

She took a small step forward so her body molded into mine in the most delicious ways, and then slowly rose on her tip toes, creating a friction between our bodies to which there was no denying the excitement in my pants.

"You better learn this, Caveman." She whispered, inches from my face. "In these walls, I don't take your shit. _You_ take _mine._" My hand on her waist tightened. She raised an eyebrow at me, eyes like electric. "I will be a challenge, McCarty. The hardest challenge you've ever had to come by. And I will put up a fight. A fight that you, won't win." She said with a devilish smile. She pulled me closer and somehow, our lips _still_ weren't touching mine. But I swore, if I were to close my eyes right now, if would

practically fucking feel like it. Her breath was hitting my lips in the most delicious ways.

Her eyes fluttered shut so on instinct mine did the same. I felt her hand go from my neck, down to my belt where she gave a quick pull and then there was this clicking noise. She pulled away, seeming satisified and when I looked down, I noticed the box for my headset attached to my belt.

I went to open my mouth to talk, but couldn't find words. She pushed past me, her hand running a trail from my arm, across my chest, to my other arm as she passed.

She left me there, stunned feeling hot and bothered.

This would be a challenge. Seth's earlier words crept into my mind.

"_Yeah, she has that effect on people."_

I shook my head, adjusted my pants, then walked out of the room, finding her sitting at the desk calm and collected.

I see how this game would be played.

I sat next to her on the stool.

"Seth, close the main." She said to Seth who was standing on the right side of the board, which controlled the main curtain, house lights, footlights, and some other lights from the treelights in the auditorium. Angela was on the side of the border lights.

He clicked the button and with a loud snap, the large blue curtain began to close. Once it was Bella brought the headset to her ear and lifted the mic.

"Bring down the house lights." She said into the mic. Seth reached up and pulled down the lever. I looked at the television screen where it was the view by Sound board and you could see the place go dark.

"Cue One." She said softly. There was faint music and Angela started lifted the blues and reds.

She said to Cue Five before she let the headset fall around her neck. Two people were on stage. She quickly said into her mic, "This cue will stand for nine minutes" before turning to me. "Any questions so far, Caveman?" She asked with a bite on her lip. I grinned.

"Why are the lights that light up your desk and the boards red?" I asked.

"They can't be seen from the audience." Instantly.

"How do you know when the next cue is?"

"This book is the script, I follow along and as cues approach, I give them warning to see what it is, then call it so it's done at the exact moment." I plugged the headset into my box and tossed it around my neck limply like hers.

"Why did you corner me in there?" I asked quieter, so Seth and Angela wouldn't hear. She smile and rolled her eyes.

"Still thinking about it, eh? Guess it was good." I caught the underlying joke.

"Oh it was fantastic." I whispered back. There was a long minute.

"The next cue is only going to be a curtain, so you guys can chill." She said suddenly, answering a question I hadn't even heard. She looked at me. "This curtain here." She said pointing to the one right in front of us. "Is curtain one. You're going open it." I nodded, how hard could it be.

She stood with me and walked in front of the curtain and pointed to a black taped line, telling me to open it smoothly and at the same pace to that line. "Spot Lauren." She said simply and I watched as a white orb surrounded the bitch on stage. "Ready?" She asked me as I grabbed the good old fashioned rope. I nodded.

The music began. "Go curtain." She whispered. I pulled it at a decent speed until it hit the line, pleased when I stopped it correctly.

"Too far." She said simply. I looked down and noticed that the sway of after I stopped it. Damn it. "Obviously you'll need to have practice on that."

I groaned.

"This is stupid.' I mumbled. She laughed quietly.

"Only because you don't know how to do it." She countered.

Oh.

The next hour or so was pretty simple, cues that I didn't have to worry about, and watching Bella. I could understand what Seth meant earlier.

"_Trust me man. You'll see exactly what I mean. She has this…way about her."_

And the truth was, I did see it. When she sat at that desk, her eyes barely skimming the script, she had this passion and fire in her eyes. Every movement was mesmerizing. Her small hands would occasionally lift her mic to her plump lips and she'd call a cue, or make a remark to an unheard comment, or just laugh quietly. Her large brown eyes looked up at the stage sometime, smiling at the people on stage.

Once in a while, she'd catch me looking at her. She'd glance at me, and a blush would creep up her neck to her cheeks and she'd pretend I wasn't there.

"What are you looking at Caveman?" She asked once as she stretched from hunching over her desk for a good time.

She was so thin I swore I could see her bones through her shirt.

"Just observing my boss for the next couple weeks. Is that so much to ask?" I said with a smile. She looked at me for a long minute before glancing back at the script.

She opened her mouth to say something, probably the first emotional thing she'd say to me, when someone came bounding in from the side stairwell.

"Bella!" She cheered loudly, earning a chorus of 'shhh's. Alice attacked Bella in a hug from behind and her eyes lit up.

"Alice. You're so late." She said, trying to sound angry, her smile giving her away.

"I know." She pouted. "But I'm here now. So forgive me?" She begged and I saw Bella roll her eyes.

"Like I could ever actually be mad at you."

How the hell could I have never noticed that these two were best friends?

"Hey Emmett." Alice said, with a smile. She leaned over to kiss me on the cheek, a habit she gained from our mother.

"Hey Ali." I said with a smile. I loved my sister.

"Are you harassing Bella? Cause I will be forced to rip your face off." She said with a smile, but completely serious. Alice could be scary when she wanted to be.

"No."

"Yes." Bella and I said at the same time. I flashed her a smile and she flashed one back.

Stunning.

Alice laughed. "Well you tell me if he becomes an issue, Bells." She giggled. I liked that name, Bells.

"Oh I will Alice. Go back to sound with Ben. And tell Esme and Carlisle I said hello."

I had the urge to rip out my eyes. What the hell? Had I never noticed Bella at the house? Or knowing my parents?

The rest of the hour Bella spent calling cues and adjusting them, and I watched her without complaint. Once the day was finished and everyone was done, Alice came up to me.

"I need to run to a teacher real quick. SO I'll meet you in the parking lot with Rose." Bella's eyes lit up at her words.

"Where the hell was Rose?" She spat and I inwardly groaned.

If they were all best friends, I would stab myself.

"She had basketball and track. She was supposed to be here for drama but already talked to Mr. Green. Emmett and I are giving her a ride home. I'm sorry. Please don't hate her." Alice said really quickly.

"I could never hate her Alice. Rose may be a bitch, but she's our best friend." I took the pencil on the desk and started hitting it repeatedly against my forehead. "And now we observe the rare McCarty in it's wild and natural habitat." Bella said in a deep monotone voice. Alice and I laughed.

"Yeah Alice, go to your teacher. I'll meet you at the car. I need to get my homework anyway." Alice danced away and there was an awkward silence with Bella for a moment. "I should get going." She rolled her eyes.

"Ya think?" There was a smile playing at her lips.

"Right. Well, it was actually really fun today, Bells. Thank you." I said honestly, hesitantly adding my new name for her. She tilted her head at me but her eyes melted and were the softest I'd ever seen them.

"Any time Caveman. You tell little miss Alice McCarty that I'll see her tomorrow." I nodded at her.

"Bye Bells." I called as I walked out of the side entrance that opened right to Senior hall.

"Bye Emmett."

Huh, that must have been the first time she called be that.

I walked to my locker and took my time taking out my homework, going to the bathroom, and joking to one of the teachers for a couple minutes. I looked for my jacket and realized that I had left it at the cue desk.

"Damn." I whispered as I shut the locker. The school was eerily quiet now and all the drama and stage crew students had left.

I opened the side door and jogged around the main board to grab it off the chair when I noticed that the front row of lights were still on.

Sitting under the lights in the middle of the stage sat Bella, looking out to a pitch black and nonexistent audience. She had her knees pulled up into her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and her chin resting upon it.

With the lights, I noticed the tears that fell down her face and I heard her start to hum.

I was going to say something to her, but if I learned anything about Bella so far, it was that she didn't like to show emotion. This would probably embarrass her to no extent. She continued to hum a song I couldn't place and I backed up slowly before walking out the side doors.

I wished I hadn't heard the echoing sob she let lose just before the door softly clicked shut.

**Later that night**

"Oh! And I finally got an A plus on a history test." Jasper said excitedly. Him and Alice were sitting on the far side of the dinner table, hand in hand, as he spoke. Carlisle sat on one head whiles Esme sat on the other, gazing at Jasper as he spoke. Rosalie sat beside Alice on the other side as well, and right across from me. I would nudge her foot and wink and she'd roll her eyes.

Each night when we'd all sit at the table, my parents would have us talk about our day, which was actually quite relaxing.

"Edward!" My mother called. "Come now. You've already missed Jasper and Alice." She scolded. There was a door opening, and a bunch of steps as my prude of a brother came down the stairs. He walked into the dining room with his bronze hair all messy, and flannel shirt buttoned completely.

"Sorry, Mom. I was composing." He beamed as she sat next to me.

Edward was the piano player, song writer, composing bastard of the family. He got straight A's, president of like eight different clubs, and Mom and Dad's perfect little child.

"It's quite alright dear. It was Emmett's turn." Esme beamed. "Emmett, darling, how was school?"

"Well it was alright I guess. Coach Green is assigning me a math tutor tomorrow, this way I can get some great grades." I said with a smile towards my father, hoping they'd leave it at that. Edward scoffed quietly.

"Math has always been your enemy, Emmett." I'm sure in his twisted mind, that was a joke, but I was actually struggling with.

"Sorry I'm not as skilled with it as you are, Edward." I said as civilly as I could manage. He sighs and looks at our father.

"I keep telling him that colleges won't only see a football head and that they will be looking for grades, but does he listen? Nope." Carlisle, thank goodness, swapped Edward's fingers with a spoon.

"Edward. Do not speak about your brother that way." The rest of dinner was spent with small talk before Edward asked to excuse himself.

"Oh Emmett. I forgot to ask. How was stage crew?" She asked a couple minutes after Edward left.

I smiled at Alice then looked to my mother. "It was actually not horrendous." The thought of Bella curled up crying on the stage fluttered into my mind but I figured it wasn't their business to know.

"Oh shut it. You had fun." Alice teased, laughing with Jasper. Rosalie smiled at me sweetly.

"Okay, yes. It was actually a lot of fun." Esme and Carlisle seemed pleased that was the case.

Alice laughed. "Oh you should've seen him Jazz! Bella had him so whipped it was hilarious." Jasper laughed at my misery and my parents stifled laughter. I can't believe I didn't know we all knew her.

With a smile on my face, I leaned back in my chair and listen as Alice recounted a story about Bella from our childhood.

**Lunch A the Following Day.**

"So then Embry and Quil actually threw me off the cliff, scaring the fuck out of some tourists passing through. They actually called the cops." We were all in stitches at the end of Jacob's story. Jacob was a funny fucking kid.

I gazed around the cafeteria, spotting Edward discussing something with his class of geeks and musicians.

I played guitar, that was it. I continued to gaze until I saw my little pixie dancing towards us to whisper something into Jasper's ear. He smiled and nodded to everything she said. She giggled and waved at me before jogging away. I watched her curiously as she plopped at the table in the far back corner where she, Seth, Bella, and Angela were sitting.

"Oh man. What was that about?" Paul asked wickedly. Jasper rolled his eyes.

"She was telling me of a dream she had where you were gay and singing Lady Gaga. Figure she'd share it with me first." All of us busted out laughing and Paul growled. I nonchalantly grabbed my tray and carried it up before deciding on taking the 'long' way back to the table, which passed Bella's table. As I approached I noticed she was sitting as close as possible to Seth, her head resting against his chest as she picked at the one tray in front of them.

"Sup guys." I said calmly as I approached. They all looked up at me with wide, surprised eyes, except for Bella.

"What are you doing here, Caveman?" She asked as she curled more into Seth. His arm was wrapped around her and he was rubbing his hand up and down her arm, as though to keep her warm.

"Just saying Hello." I said, raising my hands in defense. I wonder how much gossip would start if I sat down.

I mean, I would be by Alice…

Seth went to grab the tray but Bella stopped him. "It's okay Seth, I got it." She gave him that wide full smile and he froze letting her take it away. "You coming Angela? Alice?" Both of them stood and followed and I was left alone with Seth. I sat down.

"So you mean to tell me, holding each other like that, that you guys _aren't_ a couple?" I teased causing him to smile.

"Yup. It's how it's always been though. We've grown up knowing everything about each other. I mean, things kinda changed now, being that she's all I ever think about. But even still, even when Jacob, Bella, and I were kids, she was always such a huggable person."

"Jacob and her were friends?" I asked, genuinely curious. He never mentioned her before. Seth let out a long whistle.

"Ohhhhh yeah. Growing up, they were attached at the fucking hip. Eventually, I became that way with her too, but boy did they hit it off. It was always us three amigos." He said distantly. I grunted casually to bring him back to the present.

"What happened?" I asked watching her as she and the girls talked by the snack line.

"I don't understand it really. He joined football in middle school, which really didn't get in the way of anything, but then they got into this huge fight our freshman year. Seriously, Bella was hysterical that day. And so was Jake. I never learned what the fight was about and they didn't talk for _months_." I saw him shudder. "But Bella was always at the house, or we were always hanging out so now they speak and are pretty close, just no where near where they used to be."

I couldn't believe Jake had never brought this up. I was seriously, fucking blind.

"Wow. That's heavy." I sighed lamely. Seth nodded, mesmerized behind me. When I turned, Bella was walking this way. She was wearing a blue and black striped dress with black knee highs and those red converse she loved.

She somehow made this look good.

"Hello boys." She said as she plopped back to Seth and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Hey beautiful." Seth said casually as Alice and Angela sat down.

The bell rang again, and I didn't see Bella throughout the hallways until school ended.

**2:25**

Once the final bell rang, I jogged down the stairs and to Senior hall where it was a massive cluster of chaos and fought my way through it. I wasn't in a rush today. Jasper was taking Alice and Rosalie had a ride home already. Once I got everything out of my locker, went to the bathroom, and came out—the entire hallway was eerily quiet again. I wasted time talking to teachers and the guidance counselor about my future. As I walked down the hallway I heard some loud bang from inside the doors which I know knew to be the side doors to back stage.

I crept open the door and listened until I heard something again.

"Bella?" I called out, not wanting to interrupt her if she was in another moment. But I decided I wouldn't leave her like that, ever again.

There was a shuffle but I called out her name again.

"Uh. Yeah?" She called back. I walked in to the right, passed the cue desk and main board, then walked onto stage where she was pulling that hunk of metal lift.

I dropped my stuff and jogged to the opposite end and gave it a gentle shove so it rolled the way she wanted it to go.

"What are you still doing here?" She asked once she pulled it to a halt.

"I could say the same to you." I countered. She stared at me for a long couple seconds. The front row of lights above the first section of the stage were lit, while the audience was pitch black.

"I missed my bus." She admitted, her shoulder slumping. "So I'll just wait for my father to get off of work." I wanted to hit myself in the eye again.

Bella Swan is to Charlie Swan who is to Chief of Police Swan.

"No worries about that Bells." Her eyes twinkled when I said that name. "I'll take you." I offered. She instantly shook her head.

"No way Caveman." She said adamantly.

"Why not?" I challenged.

"It's seriously okay, Caveman." She said softly after she couldn't come up with a real excuse. I walked in front of her and she leaned against the lift. I took a step towards her and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Please let me take you." I asked gently. Her head tilted to the side and one of her knee high legs hitched up onto the lift.

"No." She said simply causing me to sigh. I took another step closer to her and felt the electricity start to flow between us.

"Bells." I sighed. She didn't respond so I took another step closer. Before long, I was towering over her and she was looking up at me with those large doe eyes.

I let my hands pin her between me on either side of her body to trap her there. "Bella." I whispered causing a delicate shudder to ripple down her arms.

"Emmett." She whispered back and this time, I froze. I loved the way my name sounded from her lips. "It's okay. I've done this before." I didn't like that answer.

"Bells, please? I would feel better if I knew you weren't here all night."

"And why do you care?" She shot at me and that made me think for a second.

Why _did_ I care?

I lowered my head so our noses were inches apart. "Please?" I asked. She let out a shaky breath and I resisted to urge to let my eyes fall shut from the feeling of her warm sweet breath.

There was a long minute of her staring into my eyes before her shoulders slumped again.

"Alright, alright." She said in defeat. I smiled at her and let my lips trail up to her forehead where I left a second kiss.

"Thank you." I breathed onto her forehead before pushing away and picking up my stuff from the side of the stage. I heard her following me and lifted my hands to the white border lights which were the only ones on. I pulled them down so we were submerged in darkness and felt her small hand grab mine, pulling me towards the door.

Once we were out of back stage we started walking the rest through senior hallway when Coach Burke rounded the corner.

"Hey coach." I said casually as Bella walked next to me, content in silence.

"McCarty! I was looking for you after lunch." I shrugged as we came to a stop in front of each other.

"Oh well."

"You're annoying as hell." He said rolling his eyes.

"Well at least I'm not a math teacher." I shot back causing him to laugh. The team always ragged on him for being a math teacher.

"Yeah yeah. Oh, hello Bella." He said once he noticed Bella.

"Hiya Mr. Burke." She said softly with a smile.

"Since you are here, I figure I tell you who your tutor is McCarty." He said casually as he reached into his brief case to pull out a list. He skimmed over it a moment before chuckling. "Well what do you know." He looked at Bella.

"What?" She groaned. "You didn't put me with Roger, did you?" I guess Bella was going to be tutoring people.

"Nope." Then he showed her the list and she groaned again.

"Uh. What's going on?" I asked. Coach laughed at me and showed me the list.

_Emmett McCarty-__Isabella __Bella Swan._

I laughed loudly. "Oh the irony."

"Well I need to get going. Bella? I expect a math genius." He teased to which she rolled her eyes.

"Oh you'll get one." And then he walked off leaving us both standing stunned for a couple seconds.

"Guess there's no escaping me, Bells." I said as we began walking again. She laughed.

"Guess not."

We walked out to my car, which was one of the only ones left in the parking lot. She groaned and I looked at her.

"So that obnoxious jeep belongs to you? Why am I not surprised?" She mumbled.

"Hey. Don't hate." I said pushing her shoulder. She giggled and I walked her to the passenger side door, opening it for her. She stared up at it for a long minute before practically trying to jump up to it. I rolled my eyes and bent down to scoop her up.

"Put me down!" She kicked. I lifted her and placed her on the seat. I shut the door.

I laughed and shut the door before jogging around to the other side. I pulled myself up and buckled in before looking at Bella who was fighting with the straps. I chuckled and leaned over to buckle her up.

My hands brushed over her stomach as I found the basic strap and I tried to hide my cocky smirk when she shuddered. I pulled out of the lot and Bella calmly directed me towards her house.

We pulled up to a decent sized house and she fought with the straps before they popped off and she slowly got herself down. I got out and walked with her to the door.

"Thanks for taking me home, Emmett." She said with a sincere smile. She fiddled with her keys for a moment before finding the house one and opening the door.

"Don't mention it. It was my pleasure." I said honestly. She opened the door. "Uh. Bells?" I asked. She turned to me and I swallowed my pride. "I have a math test on Friday. I could really use your help as soon as possible." Her head leaned against the door and she looked like a model. One hand was in front of the door, her feet crossed behind her.

She was cute.

Her chocolate eyes melted. "Of course. Do you…want to start today?" She asked, almost awkwardly. I felt relief flood through me.

"Could we?"

She smiled and opened the door wider for me. I stepped inside and she shut the door. I was instantly hit was a soft vanilla scent as I looked around the cozy living room, with a large flat screen TV.

"Come on, we'll work in the kitchen. I followed her through the living room, passing stairs that went upstairs until we walked into a small but stocked kitchen with a small round wooden table.

"Uh, your book is in the jeep." I said, turning to go get it.

"No worries. You only need one book." She said calmly, letting her book fall on the table with a loud bang. "Want something to drink?" she asked as she walked to the fully stocked fridge.

"Um. A coke should be fine." I said awkwardly. She grabbed two and set them on the table. I looked around the kitchen where there were several pictures on the wall of Bella and the Chief. She was really young in some of them and I couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"Have you always lived with your dad?" I asked.

"Nope." She said instantly as she rummaged through the cabinets.

"Did you used to live with your mom?" I asked again.

"Yeah." Her voice seemed different. I waited and she sighed, turning to lean against the counter.

"I lived with her until I was like 4, then I moved up here. I spend every summer up there. My freshman year I stayed most of the year and cyberschooled until I decided I loved it here and moved back." Her entire story sounded so rehearsed.

"Huh. Moving a lot I guess." She nodded sadly.

"I'm just glad to be here. I love Seth and Alice too much to be so far away from them."

"You always been friends with them?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"Oh yeah." She said with a large smile. We talked about that for a good twenty minutes before I tried to press conversation.

"Did you and your mom not get along? Is that why you liked it here?" I asked before taking a large swig of Coke.

"We got along fine." I noticed the emphasis.

"She have a boyfriend?"

"Boy_friends_." She clarified. I nodded.

"Jerks, huh?" She stared at her can for a long time before swallowing and grabbing pencils from a drawer.

"So your test is on what exactly?" She asked while opening the book. I sat back in my chair as I told her and looked at her face as she skimmed over the chapter.

I tried not to notice the tears fighting in her eyes.

It was then I made a little promise to myself. I would get Bella to tell me about herself. I would get to know Bella for the real girl she was, not the face she wore in public. I wanted to know why she sat on that stage and cried alone, but acted happy in front of her friends. I wanted to help Bella.

And I would.

* * *

><p><strong>TaDa! (: Ummm it wasn't fabulous or anything but we're getting there. I thought I was going to change POV but apparently not. Next Chapter will have some of the inner works of Bella's mind. But I don't want to give out what happens (;<strong>

**Ummmmmmmmm. I like the sexual tension they got going on so far, don't you. And I want Seth and her that close for a reason. Maybe you'll find out what happened between Jacob and Bella? **

**Review and tell me what you thought. Whether you hated it, liked it. Yadayadayadayada. Review what you think happened with Jacob and Bella, what happened in Bella's past, and what role do you think Rosalie is going to play in this story. **

**~Pepper**


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